The present invention relates in general to stabilizing blankets and towels and pertains, more particularly, to a stabilizer for a blanket or towel used at a beach or for other recreational purposes. The stabilizer of this invention is an improvement over conventional application of weights or relatively complicated hold down assemblies.
With the conventional beach blanket or towel for use at a beach, weight is applied to the corners or along the side of the towel in order to hold down the towel edges. The application of weight does not, however, prevent the towel from becoming covered by sand. Beach blankets and towels have a tendency to dig down in and around the center and edges as the people use and move around on them and the edges are covered with sand. The sand migrates to the center of the blanket or towel. The towel seems to collapse since it is not rigid. It will be understood from experience for most beachgoers that the blanket or towel is eventually covered with sand and must be lifted and shaken in order to remove the sand. The blanket or towel is then spread out again and weights again applied to the corners or other locations about the periphery. Other conventional stabilizing schemes require stakes or pegs for staking a blanket or towel hold down to the sand, presuming that the sand is not too loose for the stakes or pegs to obtain and maintain a purchase in the sand. These conventional schemes depend upon the user keeping track of and not loosing the stakes or pegs over time.
Observations at the beach and other recreational areas has shown that many people would rather avoid these problems by carrying light chairs and tables. The drawback of this avoidance of the problem is that carrying furniture is not convenient. Available parking is often far from the beach or recreation area and carrying furniture, even that which is small and lightweight, is a burden and much less convenient than an old fashioned beach blanket.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved stabilizer that is adapted to prevent the ends, sides, or corners of beach blankets or towels from becoming buried in the sand when the corners or edges of the blanket or towel is stepped upon. With the stabilizer of this invention it is believed that much time and effort will be saved by not having to constantly shake sand off towels and blankets while at the beach.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved stabilizer that is readily adaptable for use with a variety of sizes of towels or blankets.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved stabilizer that is easily carried to and from the beach and readily stored when not in use. The stabilizing member is inflatable and can be deflated to accomplish ease of transport and storage between uses.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved stabilizer that is simple in design and manufacture and that can be manufactured from a number of materials for use as an assembled item or as a kit for application to existing towels or blankets.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a simple solution to the identified problem without requiring complicated or bulky assemblies having easy to lose members which are difficult or awkward to carry.